Raised in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where life revolved around the ocean and stars that enabled sailors to navigate its waters, Maria Mitchell learned to "star - gaze" early on in life. Maria learned about navigation from her father, who taught her how to adjust seaman's chronometers (extremely accurate timepieces). She also learned about astronomy from her father who would take her with him to watch the night sky. In 1831, Maria helped her father observe a solar eclipse via telescope.

Educated by working as the librarian for Nantucket, Maria was able to hear lectures covering all the scientific interests of the day. In the meantime, Mitchell's interests in astronomy did not subside, and she still continued her observations of celestial bodies via her family's rooftop. One autumn night, on October 1, 1847, Maria discovered something that would change her life forever. As she was out with a telescope, watching the night sky, she saw a faint light in the sky just above the star Polaris that hadn't been there before. Maria Mitchell had discovered a new comet.

For her discovery, Maria was awarded a gold metal by the king of Denmark, and became world famous. In 1848, she became the first woman to ever be elected to the American Academy of Arts & Science, and in 1850, became the first female member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was later employed to work on the American Ephemeris & Nautical Almanac , which helped sailors navigate the waters by predicting the movement of the stars by one or more years in advance. In 1865, Maria Mitchell became a professor of astronomy, and director of the college observatory at Vassar College. Maria taught at Vassar for twenty - three years, until a year before her passing in 1889.

Maria Mitchell refused to let the surpressive demands of society hinder her from obtaining her goals. She took the "quest beyond the pink collar" in that she was one of the fore - runners and pioneers who helped to break the barriers of " traditional female careers"; she was able to put down her embroidery needle, and pick up a telescope.